PORTLAND, Oregon — A house cat in Oregon has died after consuming pet food contaminated with bird flu, leading to a national recall of raw frozen pet food, according to state authorities. Northwest Naturals, a Portland-based pet food manufacturer, announced on Tuesday the recall of a specific batch of its Feline Turkey Recipe raw frozen pet food after it tested positive for the H5N1 virus.

The contaminated product, which comes in two-pound plastic bags, was distributed to various states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, as well as in British Columbia, Canada. The recall affects products marked with “best if used by” dates of May 21, 2026, and June 23, 2026. Consumers are advised to dispose of the affected food and contact their point of sale for refunds.

According to Dr. Ryan Scholz, the State Veterinarian for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the cat was strictly kept indoors with no external exposure to the virus. Genome sequencing has confirmed that the virus found in the raw food matched that from the infected cat. This indicates that the cat contracted the virus solely through its diet.

Although there have been no reported human cases linked to this incident, health officials are monitoring individuals who had contact with the affected cat for symptoms of the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that since the inception of this outbreak, over 60 individuals across eight states have been infected, primarily exhibiting mild symptoms. Additionally, one person in Louisiana has been hospitalized due to severe illness resulting from the virus.

As of now, the CDC has acknowledged a single human case of bird flu in Oregon, which was associated with an earlier outbreak at a commercial poultry facility. That individual has since recovered from a mild illness. Furthermore, in late October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the first detection of bird flu in U.S. swine, with a pig at a backyard farm in Oregon testing positive for the virus.

Public health authorities continue to monitor the situation closely as they investigate the implications of these findings on both animal and human health.